A Heart Made Fullmetal
by theblueguitar
Summary: Post: Brotherhood. It's been four years since the events on Central and Edward's life has become a lonely one until he meets a stranger on the train. Will Edward get to save this stranger or will she be the one to save him? Please, review! OC included.
1. Pilot

Hello, fellow fanfictioners! This is my first time writing a story. I know that this first chapter is a bit short but I swear the next one will be longer. I still hope you guys like it. Reviews are greatly appreciated!

_Disclaimer: I don't own_ FMA.

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**Chapter 1: Pilot**

It had been four years since Edward had defeated the Father homunculus and he still wasn't used to not having alchemy. Every time he read a new book about the science, he would feel a bit more useless. Although, he seemed confident at the gate when he gave up his ability, he couldn't help but miss it. Edward had grown to be lonely man, traveling over the west side without his younger brother, Alphonse, or getting to see his childhood friend, Winry. They try to stay in contact as much as they can but in reality, they were all too busy. Edward spend most of his days from train to train, almost every attendant knew him which made it easier for him because they always greeted him with a compartment so he could rest and they always had some extra food so he could regain his strength.

One day, Edward woke up from his nap in the train with a strange feeling, a feeling he didn't have since he last used his alchemy. _Maybe it had to do with the dream I just had,_ he though ignoring whatever it was that he felt. He left his compartment but as soon as he opened the door and stepped out he collided with something, or better yet, with someone. "I am so sorry", said the girl rather frustrated while she tried to gather her bags. "It's all right", Ed knelt down to help her with her things but she just shushed him away. _What the hell is her problem?,_ Ed thought while examining her. She was rather pale, like she hadn't seen the sun for months; her hair was a light shade of brown as well as her eyes. The mysterious girl finally looked up and she was bit taken aback by what she saw: _Golden eyes… that can only mean one thing..._, she quickly stood up and, to Edward's surprise, held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm sorry for my rude behavior a minute ago. It's just been a rough morning", Ed looked at her hand before standing up. The height difference between them was very noticeable; there could be roughly a foot in difference. He remembered when he used to be that small and everybody use to tease him about the fact so he made a mental note not to mention anything about her height. "It's ok, we all have bad days", Ed said while taking her hand and shaking it lightly while he gave her a small smile. "Well, then, I should get going", she began to walk away when Edward spoke up again: "You didn't tell me your name", he was curious and to be honest, he could use a friend. The girl was taken aback a little bit, no one ever wanted to know who she was, dismissing her as nothing more but a teenage girl with a boring life, "Hannah…. Hannah Caverly", she said while giving him a soft smile. "I'm Edward Elric", Ed said rather confused… he was sure he had heard that last name before. "Nice to meet you, it was nice bumping into you but I should get going now. Have a nice trip", Hannah said while walking down the hall and exciting that part of the train.

Edward watched her until she left and slowly enter his compartment again, he was rather annoyed with himself, that's the most he had talked to someone in a long time and he didn't even get to have a normal conversation with her. When he started to close the door to his compartment he saw a piece of paper stuck at the bottom of the door, he knelt down to get it and what he saw almost made him want to rip the paper apart. Right there, in that piece of paper, was the drawing of the transmutation circle he and his brother had used for human transmutation. _This can't be… How?... Wait… This is Hannah's, she can't be thinking-, _Ed stopped in mid-thought before dashing down the hallway in the direction that the girl had gone but to his dismay, she was nowhere to be seen. _Where the hell did that girl go? She's going to make a big mistake if she does this, _he kept running bumping into a few people and briefly saying sorry, he came to a stop when he noticed that only one more train cart was left and it was the one where all the suitcase where place. He opened the door with little hope of finding her. Edward walked along the cart and he heard the door shut, he quickly turn around to see her standing by the door. "What are you doing here?", Hannah asked rather suspiciously while holding her back tightly. "You forgot your paper", Ed said while tossing the paper to her feet, the girl didn't pick it up because the transmutation circle was staring back at her as she looked down, "So, it is you. The famous ex-"fullmetal alchemist", the one that lost his limbs and bonded his brother's soul into a suit of armor", said the girl without looking up. "How do you know all this? If you know the consequences to this taboo then why are you even trying to do it?", Ed said furiously. Hannah finally looked up and she said the only thing she could, "That's for me to know." Ed looked at her surprised; he clenched and unclenched his fists before stalking over to here and gripping her shoulders, "Don't do this. It comes with a great price and you could lose more than what you have lost already, whoever it was!" She kept looking at him, her face determined but for fraction of a second, her expression changed to sympathy for the boy standing in front of her, "If you understand, you woul-" "I would stop you before you made the biggest mistake of your life!" "What do you know?!", Hannah yelled furiously, "You just met me. Why do you even care if I commit the taboo?! You don't lose anything." There was a deep silence; she could see how Edward's face started to get redder from the anger with every word she said. "You're right, I don't know you and I shouldn't care but it doesn't matter if it were you, or a small child, or an old man who could barely walk, I would still try and stop them." there was another pause and Ed spoke up again, "It's all in the bag, isn't it?" Hannah flinched a little and it was enough for Edward to confirm that what he said was right. In a matter of seconds he snatch the bag from here, Hannah started to protest knowing full well what his intentions were. He walked over to the end of the train and threw the bad overboard, "You insensitive jerk! How could you?". Hannah started to yell. She made an attempt to jump after it and Edward just dragged her back inside and held her to the ground while she started to kick and scream to let her go, "It was all I had to bring them back, I promise-", she started to sob uncontrollably and Ed felt a pang of sorrow. He knew how it felt to lose all of his research and feel powerless.


	2. It's only the beginning

_Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, only Hannah Caverly._

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**Chapter 2: It's only the ****beginning**

It's been 5 months since the incident on the train. Edward had scolded Hannah after she had stopped her crying. She told him that she had her reasons on trying the unforgivable taboo and he made her promise to never try and bring whoever it was that she wanted back, she agreed just so that he could get some peace of mind. What Edward didn't know was that she had another plan if bringing them back failed. They had agreed to travel together so that Hannah could learn more about alchemy and hand to hand combat with Edward. He wasn't sure why she had taken such a interest in the subject but he was determined to find out.

"This is more complicated then I thought", said Hannah while closing the book loudly, earning a "shush" from the librarian passing by. She was frustrated with every new piece of information she read and had a mess in her head. Edward was sitting right across from her with a small book in one of his hand while his feet were resting on top of the table. He looked up to see the girl with her back hunched forward and her hands entangled in her hair while she looked down. "Come on, let's grab a bite to eat", said Edward while standing up getting ready to leave. "But I need to keep studying", it was already too late. He had kept walking to the exit knowing full well that she would eventually follow him like she always did. _Brat_, she thought while standing up and running straight towards the exit, earning another "shush" from the librarian.

Edward and Hannah had a weird relationship. They knew each other enough to know their habits but they weren't the best of friends and sometimes they couldn't even tolerate each other. More than once, they had had huge fights and most of the time they didn't agree on anything. Edward had very little patience with the girl since she was always ignoring every advice he gave her and rarely showed him some appraciation but what always bothered him was that she was keeping him in the dark. He never really got to know why she wanted to do the transmutation and had no idea whatsoever why she had giving him the option of traveling together. Hannah, on the other hand, thought that Edward was cold towards her. Sometimes she tried to make conversation but he just wouldn't budge, only answering with a hum or by using very poor words. To say the least, it made her want to punch him but since he was her last resort she had to stick with him.

After getting food, Edward said he was going to the inn that they were staying to get some rest while Hannah made her way to the library once more. _Sheeh, she's always in that place,_ he said while turning around and putting his hand inside the pockets of his pants. Ed took the long way to the inn, just so that he could entertain himself for a while. There was nothing much to see since the small town only had a few shops here and there. He arrived at his room at the inn and decided to write a letter to Alphonse since he never really got the time to tell him about his encounter with Hannah. _Hannah…., _Ed thought while he starred at the piece of parchment. The mysterious girl had left Edward with very much curiosity. Sometimes he thought he could be bit nicer to her but he couldn't. Ever since he left Resembool to begin his studies in the west, he had isolated himself from people. It was a defense mechanism he had developed and while he still tried to be social with her, Edward couldn't do it.

Hannah was making her way to the inn. She was mentally slapping herself for going without Ed. He was the one who would always pick out the books she had to study and when she finished the one she already had, Hannah had no other choice but to go back to the room they were staying. She made a brief stop at a bakery and bought herself something to eat and drink. It had been four hours since she had gone out to eat with Edward but she had a tendency to get hungry rather fast so to say the least, she was starving when she got out of the library. Hannah was entering the inn when she saw a rather strange man sitting on the couch of the lobby, she quickly dismissed it trying not to be rude by judging him by the way he looked. He had long, black hair that covered his face since he was sitting with his head down and he had really large muscles and was huge in height as well, his clothes were kind of dirty and were ripped in a few places but she decided to just label him as a homeless man and went upstairs to her room. While she was walking down the hallway, she heard heavy footsteps behind her but when she turned around nobody was there. Hannah eyed the hallway suspiciously, _Weird… I could've sworn…., _she said while turning back to where she was going. She opened the room and before she could even get inside somebody roughly shoved her and she landed almost in the middle of the room.

Edward was taking a nap when he heard the loud thump of something colliding with the floor. He quickly stood up and saw Hannah on the floor. "Did you just fell?", Ed said rather confused while looking back and forth between her and the door. "No, you brat!" _Oh, great, now she gets mad at me for only asking her one question. _"Someone shoved me!" Edward looked at her like she was crazy and walked over to the open door. He looked up and down the hallway but saw nothing. "Well, whoever it was is gone now… That is if what you're saying is true." "Of course, it's true! Why would I be in the middle of the room without closing the door first?" "Maybe you were just going to get something and then leave", Ed said like it was the most reasonable answer. Hannah stood up but stopped midway when she saw the same mysterious man standing behind Edward in the hallway and before she could scream his name, Ed received a hard push, which made him collide with Hannah. Edward turned around rather shocked and saw the man who was now making his way inside the room. _What the hell?,_ was all he could think. "Now you believe me?", said Hannah while glaring at Edward "I don't think this is the time, Hannah.", Ed said trying to figure out what to do. The man was making his way over to them slowly but Edward needed a plan before he could attack him plus he had Hannah to think of. She had trained hand-to-hand combat with him before but she wasn't that good and she could get seriously hurt if she tried to fight this guy. "Listen to me, Hannah, I'll distract him. Once you see an opening, go run and look for some help. I'll try to hold him off as much as I can." "But, I can help!" "Now's not the time, just stick to my plan!", Ed said while running with all his might over to the man, preparing to kick him on his ribs in hopes of having some effect but one his metal leg collided with the man's side the man didn't even flinch. _Crap,_ Ed thought as he fell to the ground. The man quickly raised his hand and let his fist fall but Edward rolled to the side in time for the fist to hit the floor instead of his head. _Dammit, that was close, _Ed thought frustrated. Hannah watched how Ed kept trying and trying to distract the man, or monster whatever it was. She felt useless so she thought of doing the only thing that might help: use her alchemy. _Equivalent exchange, equivalent exchange, equivalent exchange, _she kept repeating over and over again while she looked in the bag for something to transmute. She rapidly drew a circle on the bedroom from, clapped her hands together and shifted the material in her circle to a sword. "ED!", she screamed so that Edward could catch the sword while she threw it at him. Edward caught it just in time but now that she had performed alchemy, the man had turned to Hannah taking a new interest in her. "You", the man spoke up for the first time, his voice sounded hoarse like if he hadn't talked in months. Hannah panicked but before the man could get to her, Edward stood in front of her. "You have to get out of here", was the last thing Ed said to her before continuing fighting with the man. Hannah quickly made a transmutation circle in the wall next to her, a door appeared and she ran to the other room. The man, seeing his target getting away got furious and gave Edward a punch in the stomach. Ed fell to the floor wincing as the man followed Hannah the way she had gone. He scolded himself before regaining his strength and running down the direction they had gone. Hannah was outside, panicking and try to think of what she could do next but before she could think of anything she saw the doors of the inn flying above her. She turned around to see the man and finally got a look at his face. He had a wide face with many cuts across it, a rather wide nose but the thing that most stood out were his red crimson eyes. They weren't like the eyes of the Ishavalan, those at least looked human but this eyes were completely red from the pupil to the sclera and they looked as though they belong to something cruel and evil. Edward ran with full force and jumped high while raising his sword, with all his might he pushed it down making contact with the man's shoulder and finally giving him a fatal wound. The man screamed furiously and grabbed Edward by the arm and threw him across the street but Ed was quick and landed on his feet. "Hannah, you have to get out of here! How many times do I have to tell you?!", Ed said exasperated but Hannah stood her ground.

Ignoring him, she started to make another circle and she made two walls from the ground and started to wrap them up around the man. He started to trash and turn but it was no use, his arms were pressed against him tightly and his body could barely move. "Yes! I did it!", Hannah exclaimed while giving a victory jump. Edward on the other hand walked straight over to the man. "Who are you and what do you want?", he said while looking him straight in the eye. "Who I am is none of your business", replied the man with hate in his voice "You think you've caught me but you're wrong, I can never be defeated and I will be back to finish my work." And with that the man's eyes turned to a regular human eye and the body went limp. "Hey… hey!", Edward started to shake the man with the hope of interrogating him some more but he was gone. The body that was left felt like a corpse and Edward was horrified at what he was staring at. Hannah ran to him when he heard him shouting and saw the body completely still "Did I.. Did I kill him?", she said rather confused and horrified "No…. He was already dead…" was all that Edward could manage to say but it was enough for Hannah to realize, as well, that what they just had experienced was something much worse than they could imagine. He had been possessed but something or someone, the corpse was from another innocent man that maybe died because of the possession or was already dead. _That explains the cuts… and his clothes…_, Hannah thought as she tried to made sense of it all. "What do you think this means?", Hannah said while she looked at Edward, who was looking down "I don't know, but I intend to find out."

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Ok, so I posted two stories in one day. I'm kind of excited about this so that explains why. I hope you guys liked this second chapter. Please review! :)


	3. Rejoined

Hey, everyone! Chapter 3 is here! I would really like if some of you guys gave me your opinions since this is my first story. You can also give me suggestions on what I can do with the story. I'm trying my hardest to keep updating as much as I can and I plan to update from 3 to 4 days. If anything pops up that I won't be able to update then I'll let you guys know. ^^

_Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. Yadda, yadda,yadda._

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**Chapter 3: Rejoined**

It had been a week since the incident in the small town. Edward had called up Alphonse, seeing as it would take too long for the letter to reach in time. They both agreed on meeting at Central on the weekend. It was now Saturday and Edward and Hannah where getting off the train in a small town, even smaller than the one they had been previously. They needed to wait three hours before the train to Central arrived so they decided to walk around in the meanwhile. Edward and Hannah had been trying to work different theories on what the strange man meant before he had "died" or what ever it was that happened. They never really reached a conclusion thus having to call Al up. Although they were worried about what could happen next, Edward and Hannah felt a little more comfortable with each other. The last five months had been filled with awkwardness and lots of arguing but ever since the encounter with the strange man they had a newfound respect for each other. They had had each other's back and since that moment, they had formed a silent mutual trust. And they had to admit, they made a pretty good team although they wouldn't say it out loud.

"You want to grab something to eat?" Ed broke the silence while they approached a small bakery. "Sure." Hannah said happily. He was trying to be better at starting a conversation. At first it confused Hannah, Ed barely talked and whenever he had it was to scold her or to boss her around, none of which Hannah was completely happy about. But now he had started to talk to her normally and she was always a bit taken aback when he talked. Hannah had a small smile on as she remembered the first thing he had asked her.

_"So… how's the weather?" Hannah had been sitting, staring out the window when Ed had abruptly asked her. She looked at him for what seemed like a whole minute before replying. "It's, um, nice…" Ed then nodded, trying to think of what else to say. "Does it look like it's going to rain?" Hannah kept looking at him, thinking if maybe the strange man they had fought yesterday had hit Ed's head too hard. She glanced outside and then answered him "Yeah, actually but it looks like it might pass briefly." Ed stood up to look out the sky as well. "Huh, you're right." He had said and then looked down at her and gave her a small smile before leaving the room. Hannah just sat there confused but then a smile crept on to her face as she realized that Edward had actually tried to talk to her._

They ate their meal quietly but enjoying each other's company. It was kind of nice that things we're soothing over after five months with no progress. Both of them needed a friend and although they had huge egos and wouldn't admit, they felt some reassurance when being together.

"Are you excited to see your brother?" Hannah asked as she reached for her beverage.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen him." Hannah nodded while she chewed her food.

"We should get him something." Edward looked at her puzzled "You know, like a 'welcome back' gift… although you've both been away so it would be more like a…" Hannah pause thinking of the right words to say "'It's good to see you and I'm glad you're okay' gift" She said while adding at the end a goofy grin.

Edward started laughing and Hannah was actually shocked. She had never heard him laugh and now that she had, she thought it was the most beautiful sou- _Wait, what?, _Hannah stopped her thoughts before they were even finished. She couldn't think of him that way. She had to stick to her plan and nothing more; she couldn't get attached to him. Sure, Hannah talked to him but she was doing it more so he could actually trust her and teach her everything he knows about alchemy… right?

Hannah stood up abruptly "I have to go to the bathroom." Ed stopped laughing and simply nodded, looking at her curiously. She walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She splashed some water in her face before looking in the mirror. Since the last five months, her hair had grown. It now passed the middle of her back. Her pale complexion stayed the same; somebody could of easily though that she had never seen the sun but to tell the truth, she was just naturally pale. Her eyes were a light brown but right now with the dim lighting of the bathroom, they looked a lot darker. She thought of herself as pretty ordinary: long brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin, not skinny but not fat either. Hannah never really thought she was anything special and sometimes she didn't mind it. Being ordinary could be less attention on her and what with her awkward personality it helped but sometimes she wished things were different.

Hannah walked out of the bathroom. She glanced at the clock before sitting down and saw they had an hour before the trained would leave. "We should get going if you want to buy your brother the gift." Edward looked at the clock and ate fast what was left in his plate. They headed out after Ed briefly paid for their meal.

It took about thirty minutes until Ed finally found something Alphonse would love, a book about alkahestry. The man in the store had said it was a really rare book and Ed couldn't think of anything better. He had liked the idea that Hannah had suggested him and the really long name she had given it. He stifled a laugh as he walked out of the store but quickly erased the humor in his face when he rejoined Hannah. They walked silently over to the train station. _Something's off,_ Edward thought as he saw that Hannah had been a bit tense since they had left the bakery. He tried to rack his brain to see if something he had said had upset her but nothing came up. _Women_, he thought as he rolled his eyes. They got on the train and soon enough they were leaving to Central.

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Alphonse walked around central, content with the thought about finally seeing his brother. He was a bit worried though, he had sound a little ansious and he didn't blame him. They way he had described his encounter with the strange man didn't make much sense to him. Al had to talk to his teachers about the encounter, mentioning as if it were only a possibility that it could happen but that only earned him a few weird glances and them dismissing him saying that it was practically impossible. But Al really never believed that something was impossible, although they're somethings that are forbidden he never deemed something "impossible". _People thought that the homunculi were just a myth and it was impossible for them to exist and I had to face eight of them. _So unless he really had enough proof that it wasn't possible then until then he still believed. Besides, his brother wouldn't lie to him about something like that. He pushed away his worries while shaking his head and decided to grab a snack before heading back to the train station and waiting for his brother.

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The train arrived in little less than three hours. Hannah complained about how her back was killing her, not being accustomed to the train like Ed. Ed just gave her a dismissing hand over his shoulder as if to say that she would get use to it, she had to if she was planning on traveling with him anyways. They walked around the train station before Ed dropped his bag when he saw him: his little brother.

"Brother!" Alphonse yelled as he ran to Edward. They engage in a brotherly hug. It felt good to see him after so long. They were the same height now but Edward couldn't believe how much his little brother had aged. Al still looked the same only that his face had shaped to that more of a man and he had become stronger since the last time Ed had seen him. _Probably still training his body,_ Ed thought as he remembered his teacher's words. His hair still remained short and his eyes still held the same kindness they always did.

"You look great, Al." Edward said before he heard and awkward cough from behind him. He turned around to face Hannah shifting her weight uncomfortably. "Oh, Al, this is Hannah. She's the one I told you about in the letter."

"Letter?" Al was a bit confused and Edward had to restrain from giving himself a facepalm. The letter never got in time because it took too much time, of course. He never mentioned her on the phone because he was too freaked out about what had happened.

"Right, I forgot. I sent you a letter the same day as the incident but it never reached you in time." Ed explained to Al briefly, feeling a bit embarrassed now that he thought about. He had told Al he had written a letter about Hannah right in her face. _Way to make myself feel awkward, _Ed though while scolding himself.

"It's ok, brother." said Al as he looked at his expression, reading him like a book. He turned to Hannah "It's nice to meet you. I'm Alphonse, Edward's littler brother but feel free to call me Al." Al said politely. Hannah had no choice but to smile. He really was as nice and polite as everyone always used to say.

"Hello." Hannah had said while giving him a genuine smile.

"Come on, let's go somewhere to talk." said Ed as they headed out the train station.

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It had been two hours since they had already gotten to Central. Edward and Al chatted away about everything and anything. Right now, they were talking about what could have been the strange thing that happened to the man and all they could think about was that someone gave a piece of their soul to control the poor man but one question still lingered. Was the man dead before or after he had been possessed? To be truthful, Ed and Al thought both possibilities were crazy but that didn't mean it wasn't impossible and whoever was behind this had to be someone powerful.

Hannah had tried to keep up with the conversation but since she didn't knew them that well and didn't understand a word they were saying because she wasn't that skilled in alchemy yet, she decided to just sit there and wait until they paid any interest in her. But she was rather fascinated at how Ed acted around Al. He was completely different when he was alone with her. Ed always had his walls up but with Al he left them fall so much that he seemed like a new person: a happier person. Hannah silently smiled when the brothers laughed about something. She felt a pang of sadness and regret. _I'm never going to have that again..._, she thought as she looked down at the ground. She felt stupid for feeling this way but yet again she had never really cooped with her feelings. She felt guilty for using Ed the way she was doing. _Maybe I don't have to use him,_ it's not like their friendship would end for what she was planning. _Well..._, Hannah though as she gazed at him momentarily. She just couldn't tell him; she would have to do it behind his back. That way he would never get mad at her or would be hurt for hiding it from him. She mentally nodded before standing up and facing the brothers.

"Let's get something to eat, you happy campers." said Hannah with the biggest grin she could muster but mentally slapped herself when she saw Ed and Al give her strange looks for what she had called them. _Yeah, I'm not good at this. _

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As the day came to a close, Hannah felt a lot better and a little less awkward around the Elric brothers. They had actually talked to her about a few things about them. Like how they had to survive one whole month alone at an island so they could learn the true meaning of alchemy. Hannah couldn't help but laugh as she imagined this two grown man as little cute boys trying to hunt for fish and capturing rabbits. They decided to stay at a local inn. This time there were two beds and of course, the brothers shared one of them. When they were getting ready to bed, Al went to the bathroom and Ed took this opportunity to tell Hannah something.

"Thanks" said Ed while looking at the ceiling where he layed in his bed.

"What for?" questioned a surprised Hannah from where she was brushing her hair. Edward shrugged as though he didn't know but continued talking. "For being a friend, I guess." This time he glanced at her fast before turning away again. Hannah looked at him for a second and she smiled reassuringly before giving a nod with a hummed answer of acceptance. Al came back right after that and flopped next to Ed, quickly drifting off to sleep. Ed chuckled at his brother before turning around and going to bed as well. Hannah stared at the two blonde men who lay in the bed comfortably.

_Maybe they could make things right._

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__There it is! :D I tried to make it a little more of a happy tone in this one because they other two sounded a bit grave. Anyways, please review! :)


	4. Drunken words, Sober thoughts Right?

So this chapter is a little bit longer than the others but yeah. I've been getting some positive feedback and it's really motivating me into writing more so maybe that's why this one came out longer then expected. :) Anyways, enjoy! Oh, and sorry for taking a while to update.

_Disclaimer: I don't own FMA._

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**Chapter 4: Drunken words, Sober thoughts... Right?**

"Come on, Ed!" Alphonse shouted as he ran in front of him trying to not get wet while the rain fell. They were walking back to the inn after buying some food when out of the blue it started to pour down. Needless to say, they looked like little kids while they ran through the rain. It brought up memories from when their mother was alive and she would call out to them to come inside before the rain fell any harder. When Ed and Al reached the front of the inn, they couldn't help but laugh at how soaked they were.

"Hey, Hannah, we bought you your favorite!" Al shouted when they got inside their room but there was no answer. He turned to his brother and shrugged. Hannah had a tendency to go out without telling them but before they had left she had been lying on the bed since she had woken up. They had asked her if she was okay and she replied by saying she was just hungry so the Elric brothers had decided to buy food for all of them as a surprise and left without telling her.

"Hannah?" Ed called out but still nothing. "That's weird… She was here when we left."

"Maybe she's at the bar." Al suggested. The inn, strangely enough, connected with a bar but it was weird to think she was there. Ed didn't really take Hannah as a drinker.

"I'll go check it out." Ed said before heading out to the elevator. _Well, it's not like I know her that well… maybe she is at the bar. _Ed thought as the elevator descended but his question was answered when the elevator door opened.

"Edwaaaaaauuuurd!" drawled out a very drunk-looking Hannah as she came into the elevator to give, surprisingly, Ed a hug. "I thought that you guys were NEVER coming back", she said turning to him suddenly sounding pretty serious.

"Um… Hannah, what exactly happened to you?" Ed inquired while examining her. Her natural loose curls were messy, her makeup looked a little bit smudge and she was wearing a rather short dress that only stopped between her mid and upper thigh.

"What do you mean?" she asked while looking at him like he had made a joke of some kind. _Jesus, her breath smells like pure alcohol. _Ed thought while looking at her as though he was staring at a monkey in a business suit and let me tell you, it wasn't the amused one.

"I think it's time for us to go back to the room, okay?" Ed said while reaching out to grab her hand but she quickly move aside, almost making herself loose her footing.

"No, no, Edward, we have to go back." she said while holding onto his hand rather tightly.

"Go back? To where? The bar?" Ed said while trying to loosen her death grip on his hand. The girl had suddenly gotten super human strength while she was drunk.

"Shhhhhh, they'll hear you," Hannah said while pulling him out of the elevator as she looked around looking rather suspicious. _This is pointless._ Edward thought while looking at her when suddenly he got an idea.

"You're right, we have to get out of here," Ed said in a hushed tone. She looked back at him with excitement. "I know where to go but you have to trust me, yeah?" She nodded contently while she looked at him with her big brown eyes. "Right now, we got to be sneaky about it so come on." He took her hand while turning to the elevator door.

"Wait!" "Shhhh, Hannah, you need to trust me, okay? And you need to be quiet as well or else they'll get to us." "But-" she said while struggling to go back. Edward was really getting tired of all of this. "What's wrong now?" Ed said rather annoyed at her for pulling him out of the elevator once more.

"He's up there." She said while looking at him dead serious.

"Who is?" he replied while searching her face for any other emotion but it seemed like she was pretty serious about what she was talking about… Then again, she was drunk.

"You know whooo," she said while drawling out her words once again "the guy with the long blonde haiiiir and the golden eyesss. We can't trust him." Hannah said while nodding in the end like she needed some reassurance about what she was saying. Edward was by now looking at her rather suspicious. Was she talking about him? His brother had blonde hair and golden eyes but his hair was short… so that only meant she was referring to him.

"Can you refresh my mind on why we can't trust him?" Edward said hoping to get some information out of her while he still could.

"You know why… because of the thing." She said while shrugging and turning around and starting to walk to the direction of the bar but Edward quickly got in the way not really intending for this conversation to end any time soon.

"What thing?" he persisted while trying to sound as calm as possible. Hannah crossed her arms, annoyed at him. She didn't want to talk anymore; she wanted to go back to the bar and let Luke, the bartender, give her all the drinks she wanted for free.

"Like you don't know. You know as much as I do exactly what happened," she said while giving another nod to herself "He's the reason why we we're here, after all."

"What do you mean "the reason we're here"?" he said looking at her with narrowed eyes.

She sighed before continuing, "He's the one that can bring them back, remember? Geez, did you hit your head or something?" Hannah said while looking at him with concern. "Maybe we should take you back to the room. I'm sure they wouldn't mind." Edward kept thinking about what Hannah had just said while she dragged him over to the elevator. She took about a minute before she pressed the number to the floor they're room was. Edward kept looking at her, trying to figure out what she had meant by saying he could bring them back. _Bring back who? And from where, exactly? The dead? It can't be. It must be the drunken person in her talking._ he kept questioning what had just happened when the door opened. Suddenly, Hannah took his hand once again but this time with more care and she looked up at him with a gentle expression. Ed immediately blushed slightly a light pink before turning his head away but he soon mentally slapped himself. This was no time to feel like this about her.

"Hannah, wait," he said while letting go of her hand in the middle of the hallway. "What's going on?" Hannah turned around while turning her head to the side curiously. "Are you using me?" Hannah looked at him surprise.

"Well, of course not!" she said rather loudly while looking at him offended. "Why would you say that? You're my friend!" She stumbled forward while she had tried to reach for Ed's hand. Edward quickly caught her before fell to the floor, knowing full well she didn't really have the best reflexes right now. "You're one of the best things to ever happen to me." Hannah said while digging her face in his chest. Edward suddenly felt a pang of guilt and was slightly embarrassed at her last words. She then started sobbing while she kept repeating the words "I'm sorry" and "You're my friend", almost like she was reassuring herself more than she was reassuring him. After a few minutes, the sobbing subsided and she went slightly limp in his arms. She was tired and the crying had emotionally drained her so Edward quietly picked her up bridal style and carried her over to their room.

"What happened to her?" Alphonse said while sitting up on the bed.

"The idiot got herself drunk." Edward said while laying her down and putting the covers over her fragile body. He had never seen her cry ever since the first time he met her at the train and even now, it still broke his heart to hear her sobs. _Why do I even care so much?_, he guessed that maybe he had gotten soft after everything but the truth was he saw a little bit of himself in her and seeing her breakdown made him feel like he was the one that was doing it. Edward sighed and ran a hand though his bangs, pushing them back. This girl was going to drive him mad pretty soon.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Al said while looking at his brother. He could read him like an open book. Even if they hadn't seen each other for almost a year, he still knew how his brother ticked. Ed turned to him giving him a slight smile before telling him all about the events that had just happened.

* * *

Edward laid on the bed while his little brother snored softly next to him. The sun had already come out but he couldn't really get the nerve to stand up or to go back to sleep. His thought kept going back to the girl that was lying in the bed next to theirs.

_"You're my friend."_

Had she really meant that? Not a few minutes before that, she was acting as though she had some big secret and he was the main reason why she wasn't telling anyone. Then again, it did seem like she thought he was someone else. He should of asked her but then she could've realized that he really wasn't that person. _Arrrgghh! _Ed growled internally so he wouldn't wake his little brother. This girl really was a mystery to him; he had no idea if he could trust her or not. It seemed like she was getting around to being open to him but after last night, maybe it was all an act.

_"You're one of the best things to ever happen to me."_

But what about that? Best thing? He couldn't be. Sure, she had saved her a twice now and he had been teaching her all, well almost all, of what he knew about alchemy but that didn't mean he was one of the best things to ever happen to her. Hell, he had treated her more times bad than good. Edward had only come to talk to the girl normally for the first time only a few weeks ago but still, her words held so much feeling. Even in her drunken state, those words dripped with sincerity.

Sighting to himself for the hundredth time, he slowly sat up on the bed and looked over to the girl that was making his mind race. The only thing that was visible was her long brown hair, sprawled around the pillow. She was facing the opposite direction from him so he couldn't really look at her face. While slowly stretching, he decided to get some breakfast for all of them and then go to the bar and ask around about the events last night that involved Hannah. Maybe she had said some more drunken words to one of the bartenders. Edward quickly got up, dressed and wrote a small note for his brother to read and left before giving Hannah one last glance. _I need a walk to clear my head,_ he concluded before turning to the door.

* * *

Al was suddenly woken up by the sound of the phone ringing. He quickly looked around only to find that his brother had left the room. He looked to his left to see Hannah, still sleeping rather soundly as though the phone wasn't even ringing.

"Hello?" he said groggily as he answered the phone.

"Yes? I'm sorry to wake you up, sir, but somebody's been ringing the desk all morning claiming that a Miss Hannah Caverly is staying at this inn in this room number, am I correct?" the desk attendant said. He sounded rather cheerful for it to be this early in the morning.

"Yes, you're correct." Answered Al feeling a bit more awake now that they were talking about the girl that laid rather uncomfortably on the bed next to him.

"Well, it seems that the person has been wanting to talk for her for a long time. He seemed kind of eager. Should I pass the call to your room?" said the attendant with his weird cheerful tone.

"Yeah, just give me one sec." Alphonse knew that eavesdropping wasn't really a justified thing to do and he never thought in a million years that he would have to do this to someone he, somewhat, cared about but after last night's event and the way his brother had been suspicious of Hannah. There had to be some justification in what he was about to do… right? He quickly transmuted a microphone and put it in the drawer of the desk that the phone was, leaving it slightly open for him to hear Hannah's part of the conversation. He then transmuted a small earpiece for him to hear the conversation clearly.

It took him about 5 minutes to actually make Hannah wake up. When he had told her she had a call waiting for her, she slightly opened her eyes bigger but quickly regain her normal sleepy hangover face.

"Right." She had said before Al excused himself to the bathroom, making her believe he was giving her some "privacy". When he was inside of the bathroom, he turned on the shower so she wouldn't be suspicious of him. Al was better at this than he thought.

Hannah looked to closed door of the bathroom and before she heard the shower turn on; she put the phone in her ear. She didn't really know how it was but she had a slight idea and before she could even greet the person at the other end of the phone, her suspicions were confirmed.

"Hannah," the raspy voice of a man called out to her though the phone, "how are things going over there?" Hannah shivered at the sound of the man's voice. She had never really gotten use to it. A long time ago, it used to be a normal voice but ever since the accident it seemed that everyone she had cared about had changed in someway.

"I'm doing what I can. I need more time." Hannah was lying by this point. She hadn't really done what she was sent here for and she was beginning to fear that they had found out. Ed and Al had been so great to her and had provide a small little family for her but they were always watching her and maybe they were thinking that they was she was acting wasn't really pretending at all...

"We need you to stay focus, Hannah," the man said not sounding very pleased, "We can't afford to lose everything now. We've given you almost six months now. How much more do you need?" By now, he sounded exasperated. This was not good on Hannah's part. She knew well enough that it was a huge mistake to anger him.

"Something came up," she said honestly. Something had come up; she hadn't really planned to meet the man with the red eyes, "Something that might interest you."

"Really?" said the raspy voice sounding somewhat surprised and pleased, "You must come tell me in person." The man quickly told her where to go making Hannah feel quite uneasy about the meeting but she had no other choice then to go over to him. If she didn't, God only knows what he would do to her as punishment for disobeying him.

She quickly got up and, without leaving a note to the Elric brothers, left the room in a hurry.

* * *

Alphonse was now standing about a good 30 feet away from Hannah. She hadn't really noticed him follow her and he was hoping that she didn't anytime soon. It felt weird doing this kind of stuff. Most of the time, his brother was the one to have to persuade him into doing these things but look at him now, on his own, eavesdropping and following a girl. _I make it sound like I'm stalking her._ Al thought while shaking his head. Maybe his brother's habits had finally rubbed off at him after so many years of being together. _Brother would be so proud of me._

Hannah quickly took a turn into an ally. Alphonse stopped walking, quite surprise that she was going in there. It made him suspicious about Hannah; this wasn't really the place you went when you were about to go to a picnic or something of that soft. This was the place when you came to meet up with trouble. Al slowly crept up to corner of the building to see inside of the ally. He saw Hannah standing next to another person that was quite tall, although Hannah was rather small but this man could easily still be tall if he was standing next to Al. The person was wearing all black and had a hat that shadowed his face. _Thank God Hannah put on a white shirt or I wouldn't be able to see her that well either. _Suddenly, the person reached out for Hannah's arm and looked like he was gripping it rather tightly. Hannah quickly yelped but the person shushed her. Al only got the words "quiet" and "stupid" from when the person had yelled at Hannah. The mysterious person was starting to drag Hannah onto the other direction of the ally and Hannah looked like she panicking. She was thrashing about, saying something about doing a better work and that she was sorry. Al had had enough; this was leading nowhere.

"Let her go!" he yelled calmly in the direction of Hannah and the mysterious person before walking out of the corner of the building, "She's with me." Said Al while putting his hands inside of his pocket, another habit he had picked up from his brother. The person in black looked at him and started to laugh.

"You want her? What for? She's rather useless!" came a raspy voice from the person's way. His voice sounded mocking and amused which only made Al get angrier.

"I said, let her go" Al repeated this time enunciating each word as though if the man hadn't heard him the first time. The man shifted in his feet but not from feeling threatened but rather from amusement.

"Come and get her." He said and Al could have sworn he heard him grin while saying that.

Alphonse quickly ran up to them and transmuted the floor beneath their feet so they would loose their footing but the man quickly leapt back leaving a distraught Hannah falling on her back. The man then ran up to Alphonse and made the first hit, hitting Alphonse in his shoulder before leaping back a few feets. Al quickly recovered from the pain and transmuted the wall beside the man into spikes but the man seemed to know all his moves almost like he could predict the future. By now, Alphonse was frustrated. He hadn't even laid a scratch on him and the man seemed to have an air of amusement around him.

"Too bad you're not as good as your brother with the alchemy" said the man as he approached him once more, landing a blow in his stomach making Al lurched forward. How did he know about his brother being better in alchemy? What the hell was going on here?

"Stop!" Hannah kept yelling every now and then when the man came close to Al but he paid little to no attention to her, targeting only the young man in front of him. She had to do something to save him or otherwise he would kill him… Now that she thought about it, he could kill both of them. She still had to try; she had to at least make an effort for once. Hannah quickly stood up and ran up to the man, throwing herself onto his back. The man was surprised for half of a second before regaining his composure and gripping Hannah by her sides and throwing her forward. She fell with a loud thud onto the floor, gasping from the pain that suddenly shot through her back. _Get up,_ she ordered herself, _get up, you coward. _Hannah slowly stood up and faced the man once more. She noticed him grin a little bit before darting his way over to her. This time, Al got in the way and he quickly transmuted a blade and started to fight with the man once more. Hannah almost dropped to her knees because of the pain on her back but she wouldn't let him see her so weak; she wasn't going to see her in pain again. She looked up she she heard aloud thud and saw Al sitting with his back to the wall, his arms were hanging loosely by his side and he was breathing heavily. The man was standing above him, holding the blade ready to kill him, whispering to him the famous question of "Any last words?". Hannah panicked and shouted a helpless no in their direction. She went running over to the man with all her might and before she knew it she felt a stab of endless pain in her right leg. The man had been fed up with her yells and had thrown the knife in her direction to shut her up. He was intending to kill her, not yet at least. She felt another rush of pain as she fell down and hit her back once again. The man hovered over her before yanking the knife out of her leg. She yelled in pain as she tried to grip her leg. When she looked at her hands stained with her own blood, Hannah started to feel a little queasy.

"Pathetic", the man said while raising his hand to stab her again on he other leg but before she did he saw him flying towards the wall. _...What?_ she though weakly as she looked up and before she fainted, she got to see a flash of golden hair and a red coat. _Ed_, she had thought as she slowly closed her eyes but before the darkness consumed her, something hard hit her head. She yelled out in pain again before hearing someone shout her name and that's when the darkness blurred her vision and she was gone.

* * *

Cliffhanger! Anyways, I think I'm getting pretty good at this. :) See you guys on the next chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated!


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